Big 4 with Bec: Rhiannon Hart

Rhiannon Hart remembers writing before she could read, puzzling over the strange squiggles in Jeremiah and the Dark Woods by Janet and Alan Ahlberg and putting her own words in their places. Her first love was Jareth the Goblin King at the tender age of eight. She wrote fan fiction in high school but she’d never admit to it out loud, so don’t ask. When she’s not reading or writing she is belly dancing, chasing after other people’s cats, or putting the pedal to the floor at her sewing machine. She grew up in north-western Australia and currently resides in Melbourne, where she works in marketing. Rhiannon has been published in the Australian Book Review, Magpies and Viewpoint and blogs at rhiannon-hart.blogspot.com. She is currently writing further books in the LHARMELL series.

1. You’ve just published your debut novel, Blood Song. How exciting! When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer? Can you tell budding writers what the experience is like, from dream to reality?

I’ve always liked the idea of being a writer, but it wasn’t until two years ago I realised I was meant to write young adult fiction. Something just clicked and what had been a major, major struggle became something fun only punctuated by major struggling! What the experience has been like for me is amazingly exciting, and I say that despite the long periods of waiting and despair. There was a lot of that during the 3 months of querying agents and 6 months (!!) of being on submission. NOTHING happens quickly in the world of publishing. But the payoff when that phone call or email comes is exhilarating!

There have been bad days and bad moments, but the actual writing part is the best. It’s why I do it. Publication has been important to me, but if it wasn’t for the buzz I get from plotting and writing I would be doing something else. And because I have an agent (the wonderful Ginger Clark) I get to focus on the writing part. She’s there for the difficult things like contract negotiation and submissions, something I’m endlessly grateful for. I can’t recommend having an agent enough!

2. Blood Song is the first book of a trilogy. What made you decide to tackle a trilogy first off? Is it at all daunting, as a newcomer to the writing world, to write not one, but three, novels? When is book two set for release?

There’s something about series that have always appealed to me. They’re what I read when I was a teenager mostly, and it was less daunting to go with what I knew best rather than what I didn’t. I wanted to tell Zeraphina’s and Rodden’s stories and I wanted it to be detailed and exciting, but the thought of writing one big book is scary! I wanted the characters to grow as well, and with all the events, which take place over roughly two years, it just didn’t seem right to have them squished into one book.

Book two has no formal release date, but I believe it will be next September 2012 at the latest.

3. Rhiannon, I read that you recall being able to write before you could read. Wow! Can you tell us about your writing background, and how you think you’ve evolved, over time.

Yes, I was a very determined reader, and I expect that’s got something to do with being extremely competitive with my big brother: if he could read, so would I, dammit! When I say “write”, I mean tell the story in my head as if those were the words on the page. It’s probably my first memory. I also remember my mum teaching me to read one afternoon with a book called Emmy and the Purple Paint. My dad read to us a lot too. We’re a very bookish family.

I thought I had evolved a great deal from how I wrote as a teenager, but when I stumbled across some fan-fiction from that time (it’s still out there, ye gods) I saw my style really hasn’t changed at all. My vocabulary has grown and my structure has improved of course, but the voice is the same. That said, I think Blood Storm, book two in this series, has some of my best writing so far, sections that I read over and feel very proud of.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

It has to be Zeraphina! She’s feisty and determined, and terribly nosy, but is also very confused. It’s been amazing to see how reviewers have reacted so positively towards her. Rodden was so much fun to write too, but he’s rather reserved and only occasionally does his sense of humour show through and he relaxes. Readers will find out more about Rodden and why he’s such a “stuck-up arrogant jerk”, as Zeraphina puts it, in book two. *Mysterious look*

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